Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-05-05
THE CHILD MOSES.
EXPLANATORY NOTES BY S. !. CUR
TlSS, PHI. o., D. D.

Lesson VI of the International Series
Second QUARTER, for Sunday, May 8.
Text of the Lesson, Ex. ii, I0-Golden
Text, Ps. cxxi, 5.
The methods used by Pharaoh to check the
growing population of Israel failed. The
king resorted to a new expedient in attempt
ing to have all the boys destroyed at birth,
but with only partial success. In Gods hands
this cruel edict was the means of training the
future leader of Israel
THE LESSON.
The Birth of Moses Tvs. 1, ga certain
man of the tribe of Levi which was to be the
priestly tribe, took wife OF the daughters Of
his tribe. They had a son. He was such a
beautiful babe that his mother used extraor-
binary means to save his life. She hid him
three months.
The Ark Of Papyrus ". S-But she could
not hide him any longer. She therefore made
a little ark of papyrus, which she rendered
firm by daubing it with bitumen ('mineral
pitch'1 and water tight by the use of veget-
able pitch, and put the little boy in it and
placed it among the flags on the brink Of the
Nile. All this corresponds well to the time Of
Ramses II. The royal residence had been at
Memphis, where, on account of the swift cur
rent of the Nile, it would have been impossi-
BILE for the child to be left in any safety. But
at Tanis Zoan, which was the royal residence
at this time, the case was different The Ia
natic arm of the Nile at this point is narrow,
the current slow and the flags thick. 1t is
not improbable that the Hebrew mother Sc
lected the particular place in the river to
which the Egyptian princess might be ex-
pected to come
VS. 4, s. She stationed his sister, probably
Miriam, near by to see what would happen.
The plan was successful Not long after Pha-
raoh's daughter, perhaps the eldest of the
princesses, came down to the edge Of the
river, quite in accordance with the custom Of
ancient times, to bathe, attended by her
maidens She saw the little ark at dis
tance. Her curiosity was aroused and she
sent one of her maidens to fetch it.
V. 6. She raised the lid of the little ark and
saw beautiful child weeping Hebrew. Her
heart was touched with compassion, but she
recognized at once that it was one of the He
brew children
The Faithful Sister Tvs. Z, e)--Meanwhile
the sister of the babe, who had been eagerly
watching and who had seen the interest
which the princess manifested IN him, ap-
peared at the right moment and made sug-
gestion which found favorable response in
the heart of Pharaoh's daughter, although
very likely she had not thought Of it until
then. "Shall 1 go and call thee a nurse Of
the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the
child for theeg" The maiden perhaps trem-
bled with anxiety to hear the reply, but the
answer came, @Go." She went and brought
the babes mother, and Pharaoh's daughter
told her to nurse the child for her and she
would give her wages.
Moses Education ". 10-The mother kept
the boy until he was weaned, and perhaps
even longer. She then brought him to Pha-
raoh's daughter and he became her son. We
do not know whether the Egyptians practiced
sHs sHs e6at Els saucson cato was IKE eEat 81 pa
prince of that time, and that there is no ex-
aggeration In the statement In Acts vii,
%, where it is said that GMoses was instruct
ed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians"
This wisdom included, according to Canon
Rawlinson, @orthography, grammar, history,
theology, medicine. arithmetic, geometry, as
tronomy and engineering" It is likely that
his education would include not only these
branches, but also knowledge of the Phosni-
clan language, which was then the language
Of commerce, much like the French and Eng
lish language at the present day. The Phoe-
nician, however, as modern Investigations
have proved, was essentially the same as He
brew The future lawgiver Of Israel, as the
adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, thus had
q remarkable preparation for his future
work.
1t is probable that he had at least some IA
miliarity with the following subjects: l.
With the legal system of Egypt Q. With the
theological works of the Egyptians, including
the Book of the Dead, which furnishes some
striking parallels with the Ten Command
ments. 8. With the ritual, including the
regulations regarding the priesthood L
With the art of writing.
All these considerations are at least favor
able to the antiquity Of the Pentatsuch and to
the theory of its authorship by Moses.
Pharaohis daughter called her adopted son
Moses, which is common name among the
Egyptians in the form Mesu, which signifies
child, although it comes from q root to draw
forth, and therefore would seem especially
suited to Pharaohis daughter as the name Of
this adopted son.
POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED.
l. Nothing is small in Gods plan The
destinies Of nations once depended on the fate
Of q little infant, and this was determined by
the faithfulness and tact of little girl who
spoke the right word at the right time.
2. God co-works with human instrumental
tiles in the execution Of his plans. Under his
providential guidance everything conspired
in a perfectly natural way to prepare Moses
for the work which he had in store for him
g. God does not despise human learning
When God raised up his servant Moses, he
sent him to the best school of antiquity and
gave him the education of prince.-Sunday
School World